


Seven Days

by thepageofapillow



Category: Block B
Genre: Fluff, Inspired by a Movie, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, no smut sorry lol, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-07 05:38:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6787885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepageofapillow/pseuds/thepageofapillow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaehyo desperately wants to fall in love, so he accepts everyone’s confession every Monday, dates them for a week, and ends up saying “I couldn’t fall in love with you, let’s break up.” Jiho is a boy who’s very oblivious to other girl’s feelings, and most of the girls he dates ends it for him. Sometimes asking someone out on a whim is a good thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Monday

Class was stupidly boring and Jiho hated it. He often would sit there, twirling his pencil as he listened to the teacher spout nonsense about whatever they were learning that day in English class. Frankly, Jiho didn’t mind school, but when it got as tedious as it did on a regular basis, he absolutely detested it. Currently, he was gazing out the window and looking onwards into the schoolyard when his pair of leopard-like eyes met feminine ones. Two girls were staring at him, screeching as low as they could to avoid disturbing classrooms around them. They frantically waved at Jiho, and Jiho had waved back after a few tentative moments of contemplation.

Many girls had crushes on him. He wouldn’t say he was ugly, but for some reason he gained a lot more attention than he expected. Nothing would surpass Ahn Jaehyo, though. He was really popular for someone who didn’t show up for archery practice. And that really irritated Jiho when he didn’t. Though Jaehyo is his senior, Jiho is still in charge of gathering everyone up and when he sees that Jaehyo isn’t at practice, his blood practically boils. The teacher is droning on now in front of the classroom and Jiho thinks he’s about to reach the breaking point between staying in his desk and smashing the window when, thank god, the bell rings.

Jiho stretches, letting out a loud yawn when he gets smacked upside the head by none other than Park Kyung. 

“Ow! What was that, Kyung? Why’d you hit me? It was with your fist, wasn’t it!? Definitely your fist...” Kyung points a pen at Jiho’s face and twists his eyebrows into something almost menacing. Jiho stops in his tracks and looks at his friend disbelievingly.

“It’s because you do unrefined things like yawning loudly with that good-looking face of yours, Jiho,” Kyung says, still pointing the pen deathly close to his friend’s nose, “that you always get dumped in a flash, you know.” Jiho rolls his eyes at Kyung and literally cannot believe this was brought up in conversation when all he wanted to do was escape this boring hellhole and go eat lunch already. What were they even serving today? Jiho can’t even remember because Kyung is still rambling on. “Realize that and do something about it, already.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it! What a pain...” Jiho mumbles that under his breath and is almost certain that Kyung can’t even hear it, but he does. Kyung tosses the pen next to Jiho’s elbow as his friend lays his head on the table in irritation at this conversation. He starts walking away and Jiho wonders why this conversation was even brought up in the first place. It was a trivial thing to talk about when your stomach’s rumbling was louder than the car horns honking outside. 

Kyung tsks as he walks away, leaning on the empty space in Jiho’s desk as he looks upwards. “Not even listening to others’ advice. It’s only a matter of time before your current girlfriend breaks up with you.” Kyung ponders something as he interestedly stares at the ceiling, but in a flash, he snaps his head towards Jiho, who’s still resting his head in his arms. “It might even be tomorrow.”

Jiho raises his head up rather proudly, sending a smirk Kyung’s way. “Not to worry. We’d already broken up.” Kyung seems rather shocked at this, so he turns around. He plants his arms on the desk as he faces his friend now, who looks way too proud for someone who was just dumped. 

“When?” 

“Yesterday.” Jiho interlaces his fingers with his own and leans forward as he tries to remember what the girl said. “’Jiho oppa isn’t the Jiho oppa I thought you were,’ she said.” Jiho purses his lips as he looks out the window again. He seems sort of bitter with that look on his face. In all honesty, Jiho wants to find love too. But all he seems to think is that girls only look at his face and thinks he’s the perfect person. He doesn’t think people dig deeper, and definitely doesn’t think people care about the heart rather than his looks. It’s saddening, really. Although Jiho is rather handsome, he wishes someone would try to crack the surface and see underneath his beauty. 

He always gets the same thing. They’d be going out on a date or something, he and his girlfriend, and he’d get the same lecture. _‘That side of you....disappoints me.’_ And then in a flash, he’d be dumped, single the next day. It gets a little frustrating sometimes, but he wishes someone would like his personality rather than dismiss it a few days later. 

He wakes up from his reverie for a bit, and shifts in his seat. He sighs a bit, moving up so he can properly make eye contact with his friend. “To begin with, everyone just does as they please. They come confessing and get disappointed when I’m not what they expect me to be.” Jiho puffs air out between his lips as he ponders the idea, voicing it out towards his expectant and waiting friend leaning against his desk.

“Well, you can’t blame them either, huh,” Kyung expresses as he crosses his arms, smiling a little bit. “For your case, the gap between your looks and personality is just huge. It’s practically a scam.” Kyung stares off into space, admiring the blackboard for only just a few moments before he continues talking. All the while, Jiho is still examining the window and it’s contents behind it, absorbing all the nature in the air that was shielded by wall and glass. “The sight of you pulling the bow still looks beautiful to me, even though I know what you’re really like. What is it...the stoic-ness of it all?”

“I’d consider myself lucky, if I were dating someone as realistic as you,” Jiho says, studying his hand. There’s a dried piece of herb on the crevice of his knuckles, and he surmises it might be from the pizza from last night. Who knows, though. He’s quite alarmed when Kyung suddenly turns around, looking on intently at his friend.

“Then wanna try going out?” 

“Sure, why not?”

There’s an awkward pause as Jiho answers, making intense eye contact. There’s a small laugh emitting from Kyung as he shakes his head disapprovingly. He turns around and leans up on the desk again, and Jiho is pretty concerned that it might be one of his habits.

“No way. Agreeing to it so lightly!” Kyung can’t stop himself from laughter. He seriously cannot believe his friend is this dense after his glorious speech from before. Nevertheless, he doesn’t even seem surprised when Jiho asks his next question. 

“So, no?” 

“Of course not,” Kyung replies fast, with a bitter edge to his voice. He pouts too, furrowing his brows in disbelief and irritation. Jiho smirks all the while in his tranquil corner by the window, bending his body slightly so he can crack the bones in his back. 

“Okay,” he just says, agreeing to whatever Kyung had said. 

Kyung just scowls, crossing his arms again and watching the students pass outside the corridor to go get lunch and hang out with their friends. He sort of chuckles, further emphasizing his point across as he tries to get his friend to understand. “Even though you felt nothing to begin with.”

“Falling in love..You never know when it’s going to happen to you,” Jiho says, bobbing his head back in forth as the words flow out of him effortlessly. He’s about to continue talking when he hears heavy footsteps and a familiar voice calling out to him. A familiar deep voice, at that.

“Oi, hyung! Wanna get pizza?” It’s Jihoon, a junior of his. Ever since he entered the school only a year ago, he’s been practically plastered to Jiho’s side. The two of them became really fast friends and everyone was convinced that Jihoon didn’t have any others to bond with. However, no one had really expected it when they saw Jihoon and Taeil holding hands in the courtyard on a Tuesday morning. They pretty much intended to keep their relationship a secret, but after they were found out, they didn’t really care anymore. 

Kyung moves out of the way as Jihoon races into the classroom with a book, showcasing some of the recent creations from the nearby pizza place in town. “That sounds nice!” Jiho grabs the booklet out from Jihoons hands and studies it, his mouth already watering at the possibilities he could get on his little pizza pie. Kyung races over and looks at the menu over Jiho’s shoulder, and Jihoon pulls up a chair to the desk and sits in it, his chest facing the part where your back should lean against. 

“I’ll have the one with eggplants and minced meat!” Jiho declares. Jihoon points towards the toppings, scanning them with both his eyes and fingers before he settles onto what he wants.

“I’ll have beef,” Jihoon says, setting his bag down on the floor and averting his gaze to the only one standing as he hears a scoff from that direction. 

“That’s all meat, then!” Kyung is probably pouting again, but Jiho isn’t bothering to check at all. They both look disbelievingly at Kyung, knitting their brows and confusedly gazing upon him.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” Kyung doesn’t respond then, instead mulling over the menu just in case he wanted to grab a slice of pizza for himself. Just then, they hear girls conversing in the front of the classroom. All three of the boys look onwards at the girls, catching their conversation. They probably thought they were being quiet, but they weren’t.

“Is he not coming to school today?” Both girls were huddled against the window, holding onto each other for support as they worried about a mystery boy. Honestly, Jiho had no idea who they were talking about. There were plenty of boys in this school that girls were typically worried about if they didn’t come to school on a regular basis. So for the time being, he shrugged it off as he heard the mumbles of worry and frantic glances at the entrance of the school.

Kyung, apparently, knows exactly who they’re talking about, because he’s the one who breaks the staring contest at the concerned pair of girls. “Today is Monday, huh?” Kyung breaks his outloud thought for a second to see both Jiho and Jihoon looking at him with a weird expression. “Jaehyo’s actions concern the girls, after all, huh.” Jiho wonders why every ending of Kyung’s sentence is a question, but he knows he’ll get hit if he asks, so he keeps his mouth shut. For a second, he even forgets about his third year senior, and promptly asks Kyung who he is. Brainfart alert.

“Jaehyo?”

“Jiho, you’re in the archery club with him, right?” Jiho breaks out of his complete brainfart and thinks about hitting himself, but he doesn’t. Instead, he beats himself up inside his brain, sending negative thoughts. He pauses for a second to criticize himself before answering.

“Ah, the third year, Ahn Jaehyo.” He nods along with himself as he makes the puzzle pieces connect, and Kyung finally tears his eyes away from the jittery girls to participate in listening to the conversation again.

“Right. Did you two good-looking guys get along well?” Jihoon knows both the boys are good looking, and often teases Jiho because of his looks. Not in a bad way, of course. Just kind of in a way that’s like, “Dude, I know you’re handsome and you know you’re handsome, right?” Jihoon points his finger at his friend for good measure as he asks his question, waiting for an answer as he does so.

“Not at all. We just greeted each other occasionally,” Jiho says as he looks back at the booklet full of pictures of pizza. He turns the book over to the front and reads the ridiculous advertisement font on the front. “He didn’t really come to the dojo anyway.” He finally sets the book down on his desk, interlacing his fingers back together as he pushes back on his heels to make his chair lean closer to the wall. 

Both Jihoon and Kyung seem kind of appalled that Jiho doesn’t know, considering how confused he was watching the girls converse only a minute ago. Or maybe too shocked that Jiho is _that dense_ after all. So Jihoon steps up to the plate and is the one who informs him of it. “Then you don’t know about it? Jaehyo’s....Monday definite okays?” Jihoon tilts his head to the side and is pretty sure that Jiho definitely doesn’t have an inkling of what it is, because then he asks,

“What’s that?”

Kyung fills in for a stunned Jihoon sitting across from Jiho. “Jaehyo will go out with the first girl who confesses to him in a week.” Kyung nods his head, looking so matter-of-fact and straightforward that he might as well be Jiho’s teacher. It’s kind of scary how the two are similar when Kyung is dead serious. “Well, he’s popular, so of course he usually gets confessed to on Monday. And he’ll definitely say yes,” Kyung finishes, crossing his arms again and nodding all the while. 

Jiho raises his brows in disbelief as he pays attention to his friend. He’s drinking up all the words he’s said and is kind of surprised when he hears the end of it. “No matter who confesses?”

“Yes, no matter who.”

Jiho nods his head, taking it in for the first time. He’s never heard of his senior do a thing, so when he hears about this, he’s kind of taken aback. “For real?”

He gets no answer, but Kyung rattles on. “Then, in the end of the week, he’d tell her this: ‘I couldn’t fall in love with you, let’s break up.’” Kyung seems kind of saddened when he says this, bowing his head down and biting the bottom of his lip. It’s kind of strange. But then Jihoon finally notices and remembers what happened only a few months ago. He gives him a look that beckons him to continue, acknowledging his sadness. “Right, I went out with him for a week last May.” He places his hands behind his back and raises his head up high for a few moments.

“What’s with that pride?” Jiho feels like he misses something when he sees his friend change in attitude all of the sudden. What’s so good about being proud of someone you got dumped by anyways? Jiho feels like he has a headache coming on with all this processing of information.

Kyung seems to blow over in overenthusiastic energy, because he hops up on the heel of his shoe and frantically pushes his arms out. “Because! To go out with Jaehyo is like hitting the jackpot!” Jiho finally knows Kyung lost it because the boy cradles his arms to his chest and practically fanboys on the spot. So much for being best friends with a really flaming homosexual.

“No, Kyung, that’s the complete opposite of what you say about me,” Jiho utters. What he gains from his retort is a narrowing of the eyes from Kyung’s part, and Jihoon shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he’s being left out of the conversation. He scratches his head awkwardly and tries to jump in unexpectantly. 

“Normal people don’t understand how popular people think. What is he actually like, Ahn Jaehyo?” Both Kyung and Jihoon eye their friend as he ponders the question. What _is_ Jaehyo actually like, Jiho wonders. He takes a few moments to think about it when a vision pops into his head. It’s Jaehyo, and he’s actually at archery club for once. He’s handling the bow, lining up his shot and pulling the string back ever so delicately, his eyes focused on the target at the end of the room. His eyes are sharp and steady as he lets go of the arrow, the string lining up with the crevice of his lips.

“Well, he’s manly.” Jiho really isn’t sure what to say because he barely even talks to the guy, but both his friends were waiting for an answer with narrowed eyes, so he tries to deliver.

“We can see that for ourselves!” Jihoon’s tone is antagonizing, trying to whittle some more information out of the boy in front of him. Kyung just stands there. He doesn’t really know why Jihoon asked Jiho, because hell, he went out with the guy! He should definitely know more than someone who barely sees him at archery practice. 

“Well, I’ll go,” Jiho says suddenly, rising up from his chair and promptly pushing it in. He plants his hands in his pockets as he strolls along to the door, almost leaving it. It’s almost as if he predicted Jihoon would question why he was leaving. “What? We ordered pizza, right? I’ll grab it by the gate, so I’ll leave my assignments to you!” Jiho almost says that jokingly, but the truth is, he really didn’t want to do them. As he finishes his last sentence, he walks backwards, and hears pleads from his friends behind him to come back and sort out this mess, but he’s blocking them out. He’s already out the door and he definitely isn’t going to go back.

A few moments later, and Jiho is sitting right against the gate staring at the puffy cumulus clouds in the sky. What Jihoon has said about how people think is replaying in the inner chasms of Jiho’s mind, and sooner or later, Jiho is caught up in a big tornado of thought. _I feel like I’ve been told something similar before. Of course, it was in a completely different condition. I’ve never thought about it before, but what kind of person is Jaehyo, I wonder?_

As if on cue, a silver car rolls up the street, blowing some dirt and wind around in Jiho’s short hair. It’s a convertible, and Jiho looks over to see who’s inside. It’s Jaehyo. He shoulders his bag as he approaches Jiho sitting there, nodding his head once and calling out a greeting. “Morning,” he says, a cordial smile gracing his face. 

“You’re early today,” Jiho notices, making some small talk before his pizza gets there at the front gate. He watches the car drive away and remembers the girl in the driver’s seat. “Was that your girlfriend for the week? She looks older than 20.”

Jaehyo walks a little bit closer to Jiho, closing their distance but keeping a relatively comfortable space between them. “You’re not very observant, Jiho,” Jaehyo chides, leaning up against the wooden fence, “Wrong on both counts.”

“Huh? Don’t you go out with them once they confess?” Jaehyo is admiring the clouds in the sky just as Jiho was before, and Jiho is the only one looking at his senior leaning against the fence. He’s kind of studying how he reacts to his sentences, but overall, it’s a bit blander than he expected it to be.

“She’s different,” Jaehyo says. A small silence envelopes the air around them before Jaehyo inquires his biggest question. “Anyways, what are you doing here? It’s still lessons, isn’t it?” Jiho laughs once, hugging one of his knees to his chest as he gives his answer.

“I’m waiting for pizza. It’s self-study.” 

“Ah, I see.”

The two sit in a relatively comfortable silence for a little while before Jiho’s brain kicks into high gear and confuses him with thoughts again. Something Kyung’s said earlier in the conversation that he ignored is coming back up, and honestly, he isn’t even sure how his brain stuck onto that one thing. _‘One week...is long enough to dream, right? Jaehyo is perfectly faithful, too.’_ Jiho doesn’t notice he’s staring up at his senior until the boy next to him shifts his head uncomfortably as he feels eyes bore into his side. They make eye contact and Jaehyo feels as if something is wrong.

“What is it?”

“Ah, you haven’t been confessed to yet today?” Jaehyo shakes his head and returns with a ‘not yet’ in a small voice. “So it’s going to start from now, huh?”

“Even second years know about that, huh?” Jaehyo’s tone sounds a little bit disbelieving, and for a minute, Jiho wants to reach up and hit him playfully. But Jiho isn’t even sure what their type of relationship is or even how the boy would react to such a thing. So he doesn’t. He stays firmly planted in his seat on the dirty concrete and keeps conversing with the older boy locked in place at his side.

“I just found out. Are you really fine with anyone as long as they confess to you first? Even if they’re totally not your type?” Jiho seriously wanted to know. Because for years he’s kind of been the same way, just not as drastic. He has a type, definitely, but when girls confess to him, it’s just hard for him to say no. Plus, they’re all pretty anyways. So what does it matter?

“Type? You don’t know that by just looking, do you?”

“No, I mean, their looks?” Jiho says that as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. But he doesn’t exactly want to overstep a boundary with his hyung that would get him in trouble, so he doesn’t, so he just leaves it at that. He’s only rewarded with a ‘Hmm..I wonder..” from the other party leaning on the fence, and after that, he decides to press on more. “For example, a gentle-looking person or a sexy type of person.”

It seems as if a lightbulb went on in Jaehyo’s head, because his brows raise up and he turns his whole body to peek at his junior. “Ah, but I like your face. That’s what a type is, right?” Jiho is kind of taken aback at this statement, and averts his gaze to the really interesting lamp post across the street. He doesn’t really know what to say. He can feel his ears turning red and he’s thankful that his hair practically covers them.

Jaehyo’s still looking at him with a proud expression on his face, poised in the most stupid and attractive way possible. The silence is kind of stretching more awkward than it had been before for two acquaintances. _It was kind of in the spur of the moment. Kind of like, “How would this guy react if I said this?”_ “Then....” Jiho pauses, unsure of himself for a moment, but he hitches in a breath, completing his statement, “...go out with me, Jaehyo.”

The other boy’s eyes slightly widen. He definitely wasn’t expecting that at all. They stay there like that, making intense eye contact. Jaehyo still hasn’t said his answer, and Jiho is practically convinced that he’s so shell-shocked by the situation that he can’t even fathom to produce one. It’s been such a long time before their eye contact finally breaks at the sound of a scooter pulling up, a man with a helmet and pizza stepping out. Jiho views the sight, standing up abruptly as the man offers him his pizza.

“Are you Jiho?” The man removes the pizza from the hot box and Jiho confirms his identity with a small nod of his head. “It’ll be 32,000 won with tax,” the man declares, and Jiho goes on an adventure to find his wallet. He digs through his empty pockets, front and back, and in his coat pockets, and has come up with nothing. He then realizes he left his wallet back in the classroom in his bag and he curses himself for being so forgetful. 

“This is bad,” Jiho says, “I forgot my wallet in my bag.”

Jaehyo steps up, reaching inside his back pocket and pulling out a straw-colored wallet. He pulls bills out from it and hands it to the pizza guy. “Then, here,” he offers as he takes the pizza out from the guy’s hands. The pizza guy takes it, and promptly thanks them for their service as he packs up the rest of his scooter and pulls away. Jaehyo sniffs at the aroma coming through the box, and the both of them watch the man drive away back to the building he came from, no doubt doing some other deliveries nearby.

At this point, Jiho is kind of in disbelief. He didn’t really expect Jaehyo to do something that nice for him, much less after he practically confessed to the guy. He was pretty sure he would get rejected, but he didn’t even get an answer at all. Just covered for his neglectful mistake. He whips around, bowing to his senior and apologizing promptly. “Sorry! I forgot my wallet in class. I’ll pay you back later, hyung.”

“It’s fine,” the boy says, “More importantly, if you don’t hurry back, it’ll get cold.” He offers the box to the boy, giving him a small smile before he steps away. Jiho refuses that service to him, but before he can pull the boy back and demand he pay him back, Jaehyo is already several steps in front of him and Jiho doesn’t exactly feel like running. As Jaehyo licks his lips, he gazes behind him and meets the eyes of the boy who’s just as confused as he is. He purses his lips, though, and walks ahead, eager to get to class.

* * *

 

The bell chimes throughout the school, signaling the end of the day, and boy is Jiho happy. He can’t stand to be in there for another minute hearing his teacher talk and talk about things he doesn’t care about. He intends to head home and flop on his couch and never move again, but Jihoon has other plans as he approaches Jiho’s desk. “Hey, hyung? Wanna stop by the convenience store on the way home later?” Jiho nods, packing up his stuff and slinging his back over his shoulder. 

“I feel like I’m forgetting something, though,” Jiho says, biting the bottom of his lip and trying to figure out what it is. He comes up with nothing.  As he’s about to get up and walk out with Jihoon, he sees someone standing there he doesn’t expect and he instantly remembers. “Ah, hyung!” He rushes over to the boy standing in the doorway, pulling his wallet out of his bag and picking out the bills allotted from the time earlier. “Thanks for before. I’ve to pay you back,” he remembers out loud, “I almost forgot.” He offers the bills towards his senior and the boy tentatively takes it.

“Ah, thanks. I was wondering if we could go home together today,” Jaehyo adds as he puts the bills inside Jiho’s front pocket, tilting his head against the doorframe. Jiho is definitely confused, and all he can let out is a huh, leaving room for Jaehyo to continue. “Or do you have something to do?”

“Not me, you,” Jiho announces. He can’t believe this boy forgot again. Jaehyo looks completely confused, and now, both their expressions match for once. Jaehyo shakes his head, perplexed at Jiho’s statement.

“I’m free,” he says, and Jiho outwardly groans.

“You have club, don’t you? Club activities!” An expression of horror flashes against Jaehyo’s perfect face as he remembers. Well, shit. Jiho doesn’t have to go today because he’s filled his queue since two practices ago. And he knew the supervisor was getting angry that Jaehyo wasn’t going, so he wanted to insist upon the boy he’d go today. Whether or not he remembered to pay him back for earlier. “Take this as a warning from supervisor,” Jiho adds, trying to sound menacing. He, in turn, leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “Your talent. It’s a waste, you know. Come to practice.”

“Ah, that’s righ--”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Jaehyo pulls out his cell phone and kind of laughs at his junior’s menacing behavior. “It’s not like that,” he assures the boy. Jiho still looks accusingly at his senior. He isn’t going to let him up like this. He’s going to be persistent about the practice thing. At least, he was before he was asked a very simple question. “Do you have a cell phone, Jiho?” Jiho just nods, confirming that indeed, a high school student like him with a life, has a cell phone in his possession.

Jaehyo opens his phone with a pattern and touches his contacts, bringing up a new form to fill out a brand new one. “That’s great. Tell me your number and email address?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll contact you,” Jaehyo says with a pip in his voice. He feels really excited about this situation. It always starts like that in the beginning of the week.

“Why do that?”

Jaehyo seems taken with this question. And also, a little sad. His face is void of any sort of positivity as Jiho rattles on. “Were you the type that cares about stuff like this so much?” Jaehyo can’t respond, and even if he tried, he’d probably stutter and falter in his words. So he stays silent. Which is a good thing, because Jiho continues to talk. “Well, it’s fine anyways,” Jiho responds, pulling his phone out from his left pocket. He offers his phone to Jaehyo, and the older boy is kind of confused. “You do it. I don’t know how to.”

Jaehyo smiles warmly, taking Jiho’s phone from his fingers and looks back and forth from both phones, typing numbers and names in with ease. 

Off in the distance, Kyung and Jihoon are honestly super confused about what’s going on by the door of the classroom. “What’s with those two?” Jihoon asks incredulously as the both of them chide each other with equally annoying and cringy banter. 

“Who knows....” Kyung calls as he observes the boys’ peculiar behaviors.

“He said they just greeted each other, right?” Jihoon asks. He’s still as confused as Kyung is as he stares on. They speak in hushed whispers and it’s kind of hard to decipher what they’re conspiring about over there in the middle of the room.

Jaehyo finishes putting the numbers and email addresses into both phones and looks up from his endeavor. “Here you go,” he says, offering Jiho’s phone back to him, “I put mine in too.” Jaehyo pushes the dim button on the side of his phone and places it back in his pocket. He stuffs his other hand in the empty pocket and raises one brow teasingly. “Well, see you tomorrow.” Jiho just knows this boy is gonna go home without going to that practice, so he runs into the hall and reminds him, stopping his senior dead in his tracks in his adventure out the door. He turns around, offering a really cheesy and big smile. “If you say so,” he says, moving in the other direction towards the club room.

* * *

 

Jiho finds this behavior kind of weird and further thinks about it as he’s making the long trek home. _Asking to go home together, asking for my phone number and email address....what a weird guy. Somehow it’s all too sudden._ He takes the bills out of his front pocket and looks at them for a moment, confused. He puts them back and then remembers earlier today. How weird Jaehyo was acting, how he asked him out so suddenly. And then something goes off in his head. He smirks unbelievingly, shaking his head. 

“There’s no way. Impossible.”


	2. Tuesday

It’s 6 AM in the morning on Tuesday when Jaehyo’s phone rings. It had been such a fulfilling sleep that he couldn’t go back anyways, so he just gets up and checks who’s calling him. Great, it’s his ex. However, this ex is someone who will just _not leave him alone_. Though he makes efforts to ignore him, he just whittles his way into talking with Jaehyo whenever he needs him, and for that fact, Jaehyo is annoyed. More than annoyed. Practically irritated whenever he sees his number pop up on the caller ID.

He groggily turns over on his right side, reaching for his phone with the utmost zero percentage of enthusiasm. He opens it up and sees the name. Minhyuk. _As I thought._

* * *

_In the beginning, Minhyuk and Jaehyo didn’t exactly date in the traditional sense. In fact, Minhyuk had been going out with Jaehyo’s older brother at the time. But that really didn’t even stop him at all. One time, Jaehyo recalls lounging on the sofa. Minhyuk and his brother had been hanging out when suddenly, he sees this figure round the corner. It’s particularly alight by the lamp by the couch, but the form in said corner was looking more menacing than anything Jaehyo had ever seen. And before he knew it, this certain figure was Minhyuk, and he was climbing on top of Jaehyo._

_Minhyuk was free-spirited, saying and doing exactly what he wanted. And apparently, at the time, Jaehyo was what he wanted. Jaehyo can still remember what happened as clear as a photograph. He was reading the paper, enamored in a section he’s long forgotten, when it is just plucked from his fingers effortlessly. He didn’t want to complain, because he knew he’d be in for it if he angered his brother’s boyfriend. Minhyuk threw his paper on the coffee table quite forcefully, and before Jaehyo knew it, the boy was slinging his leg over Jaehyo’s lying form and straddling his hips._

_Jaehyo tried to move him away, but the stronger boy just pinned him down with a biting vigor that left the younger boy helpless. Jaehyo was super uncomfortable, and got even more so when the older boy leaned into him, getting right up close and personal next to his ear. “If my brother sees us, he’ll misunderstand,” Jaehyo says, his voice cracking a bit from strenuous distress._

_Minhyuk doesn’t answer for a few minutes. He doesn’t even seem affected by Jaehyo’s statement. “It’s fine if I break up with him,” he finally says. Jaehyo eyes him for a second before the boy moves closer, and that’s when Jaehyo moves his head to the side to avoid any more eye contact. “I like you, Jaehyo,” Minhyuk whispers. A pause. A swallowed lump in Jaehyo’s throat. A sensual rub by Minhyuk._

_“I love you.”_

* * *

His phone rings again to break him out of his temporary slumber. _I bet it’s him again._ Jaehyo properly gets up this time, shifting up so his covers fall over to the side. After a few moments of letting it ring, he finally swipes the green over and presses his phone to the side of his cheek. “Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you answer the first time? Get over to the train station now. Right away!” On the other end of the line, Minhyuk is leaning against a railing, obviously waiting patiently for the other party on the phone. He’s shielding his eyes with sunglasses and carrying a bag on his left. He admires the atmosphere of morning air as he talks to Jaehyo.

“I can’t go.”

Minhyuk turns pouty and condescending as he replies. “Why? I don’t get it.”

Jaehyo sighs into the reciever, looking down and fiddling with the end of his shirt. “I was free up til yesterday so it’s fine, but starting today, it’s no good. I can’t meet you.”

Minhyuk instantly understands, and on the other end of the line, he rolls his eyes. “Again? You’ll just break up in a week anyways.”

“I’m hanging up,” Jaehyo says abruptly, getting ready to end the call. However, Minhyuk decides to speak up and the younger boy groans outwardly. He really did want to go back to sleep, after all.

Minhyuk takes off his sunglasses, closing them and tucking them on the outside of his shirt. “What kind of girl is it this time? How old is she?” Minhyuk pretty much thought Jaehyo went out with girls. And a majority of the time, he’s right. Not many guys confess to him, and minus Minhyuk, who doesn’t even really count anyways, it’s only been two. But he can’t even remember the last guy that confessed to him before Jiho. What was it? Jihyuk? Jihoon? Ah, he can’t even remember.

“A person two years younger than me,” Jaehyo says, a long pause in between. He kind of hesitates, but he doesn’t really think Minhyuk picked up on that factor.

Minhyuk nods a bit, biting the inside of his cheek as he hums contentedly at the information he was given. “Is she cute?”

Jaehyo leans on his elbow a bit as he thinks about it. “Rather than cute….” He pauses for a bit. An image of Jiho at the bow pops in his head. He’s drawing back the line, his eyes focused and centered. He stands with his feet a little bit more apart then Jaehyo’s stance, and his brows furrow in just the right way as he lets the tension go, the arrow sailing through the air and hitting right in the bull’s eye. “…beautiful?”

Minhyuk seems kind of bitter about how perfect this person sounds, because within a flash, he’s biting back with a very irritated sounding tone. “Even more than me?”

“I think that kind of thing isn’t comparable, though,” Jaehyo says in an effort to be nice about it. He knew that if Minhyuk got too angry, he’d feel the wrath of it later. Minhyuk just always seems to think the front door of his house isn’t even a barrier at all, just skipping merrily in and meddling with the two sons that live there. Honestly, it’s such a bother. But he can’t exactly keep her away. She does as she pleases, and it’s the worst thing in the world when you’re kind of defenseless.

“I love that side of you,” Minhyuk cooes. Jaehyo raises his brows and rolls his eyes in the meantime. “Play with me in the weekend, ‘kay?” Minhyuk is about to hang up when Jaehyo remembers one thing he wanted to tell him. Something very important.

“Before that, how about you get back with my brother?”

He doesn’t answer. Just tsks over the phone and sends out something equally as berating as before. “I hate that side of you, though. See you.” The line goes dead, then, and Jaehyo dims his phone. 

He flops back down on his bed, letting out the world’s loudest sigh in the world. He turns over abruptly, staring at his phone and contemplating. _This is no good. I’ve got to think of Jiho._ In a flash, the boy gets up and grabs his jacket, since it’s chilly in his room and he can’t exactly make a ruckus in the house this early. He remembers what happened last time. As he does so, a bunch of thoughts pop up in his head that he hadn’t even thought of before now.

 _Surprised me. That he didn’t have a girlfriend even though he was so popular._ He sticks his arms through the sleeves of his jacket as he scrolls through the contacts on his phone, ultimately landing on the person who he’d been currently thinking about. _This time…can I fall in love? The possibility is there._ Jaehyo strolls back over to his bed, rocking his phone in his hands as he sits down and keeps thinking.

 _I’m always hopeful in the beginning of the week. Even so, my feelings regarding my partner never seem to grow._ He perches his hand underneath his chin as he stares at the calendar, the month of November largely sticking out from the font. _Seven days to see what’s in my heart. It’s enough. It was enough for Minhyuk._

Jaehyo recalls some of the dates he went on with Minhyuk. That one during the carnival in town, when Jaehyo had treated Minhyuk by buying him a drink served at the food carts. The look on Minhyuk’s face did not match Jaehyo’s. He remembers how loving he looked, and how immensely satisfied he was with his partner. It was the same on every other coffee date they were on. Most times Minhyuk would be on his phone, but when Jaehyo looked particularly uneasy about the relationship or just uncomfortable in general out in public with Minhyuk, the boy would dim his phone and stare at him in this heart choking way that didn’t seem to reach to the younger’s own. 

Jaehyo scratches his head. Honestly, all this thinking is giving him a headache and he can’t really stand it. He opens up his phone, clicks on Jiho’s number, and sends a good morning text to the boy. He isn’t exactly sure how Jiho will react when he gets it, so he sends it half-heartedly. Jaehyo was always used to being the one in the relationship that does that, so it’s kind of a habit. _If only I sent this mail to the same person every week._ He dims his phone and climbs back into his warm and inviting covers, setting his cell phone on his end table for the time being.

His head isn’t even allowed to hit the pillow for two seconds when he hears a ding from his phone. He’s gotten a text message. He excitedly grabs his phone from the table, opening it up and checking the message. He rips his covers off, sitting in the same position as he was staring at the calendar. He reads the message as he laughs, smiling a bright smile to go along with it.

_From: Jiho_

_It’s too early. I hate you for waking me up._

He can’t help but smile brightly at the statement. “My bad,” he says out loud, punctuating his sentence with a condescending tone. _Somehow, he’s different from his looks._ He leans on his elbow, his own head hitting his shoulder. “He might be cute, after all,” Jaehyo announces with a warm smile on his face. He’s about to message Jiho back when he sees he’s getting a call. Of course, it’s a call from the man himself. After a few moments of confusion, he finally answers it. “Yes?”

A sleepy, deep voice comes out from the other end, and immediately, Jaehyo can tell it’s Jiho. “You’re an idiot. Right? You are, right?” Jaehyo brightens at the flick of a switch, the smile never leaving his face.

“Yes, I’m sorry. That was stupid of me.” He’s laughing and he doesn’t even realize it.

“Don’t apologize while laughing,” Jiho says. He’s sitting on the corner, his eyes barely even open as he speaks these words in a harsh tone to the other boy on the phone. “Waking up at a time like this…I can’t go back to sleep.” A half yawn comes out of the boy’s mouth as he shifts a bit. “What’re you going to do about it?”

“What should I do?” Jaehyo says teasingly. Another gigantic yawn comes from the younger boy on the line as he scratches his head.

“Annoying. I wanna punch you.”

“Ah, so should I come over to get punched?” Jaehyo is downright teasing the boy now, and he doesn’t even regret it. After all, he thinks this is fun. What a delightful conversation they’re having. A deathly silence cakes the atmosphere as he says those words. _Uh oh, he stopped talking. Scary._ Jaehyo’s about to hang up when Jiho says his name in that sleepy-sounding voice. It almost sounds quite terrifying. “Yes?” 

“Come to today’s morning practice,” Jiho says, his rebuttal weak.

“Morning practice? What morning practice?” 

Obviously irritated, Jiho rises, opening his curtains and looking outside. “Tell me what club you belong to.” 

“Archery club?”

“Don’t ask,” Jiho says, pulling the curtains all the way open. “You, don’t skip today. Cause I just decided I’ll come. This is what happens when you wake me up. Just watch me get my revenge. That’s all, see you.” He doesn’t wait for a goodbye on the other end before hanging up, turning around and yawning once again. Today was going to be a pretty rough day. He sits back on his bed, stretching his arms a bit as he tries to wake his body up.

Jaehyo, however, is still holding the phone in his hands, a small smile gracing his features. “I see. He’s coming, huh.” _But it’s just perfect. I couldn’t go back to sleep either, anyway._

* * *

The target is riddled with arrows, and Jiho looks back and forth from his bow and the target, lining up his shot with his eyes as he raises it. He pulls the string back ever so slowly, the tension shifting his fingers slightly. Jaehyo and the rest of the club members are looking onwards, watching him shoot.  _I’ve been wanting to see this elegant stance after a while,_ Jaehyo thinks.

Suddenly, Jiho lets go of the arrow and it shoots forwards, sending itself slightly to the right, but still managing to hit the bull’s eye. All the club members clap in courtesy as Jiho lowers his bow. The supervisor a few steps away uncrosses his arms and begins to evaluate Jiho’s shot. “Your skills haven’t dulled. If you hadn’t made such a vulgar outburst in the end, I wouldn’t have anything to say.”

Jiho seems super confused about this, because he definitely oversteps the boundary and decides to question the authority with disbelief evident in his tone. “Vulgar!?”

_Really, he’s all over the place. He was so beautiful up til then, too._

“Third years. Take your places.” Three of the third years in the club yell in acknowledgement as they get up from their place on the floor, going to gather their bows. They line up, the oldest out of the three going first as he draws his bow. Jaehyo waits patiently as the boy lines up his shot, trying as best as he could to seem poised and relaxed. In all honesty, it was really hard for him to get in the zone at the beginning, but once he pulled back the string, his whole demeanor changed.

Jiho is watching, crouched down and observant as he looks onward at the shots being made. _Rather than being scolded, having you stand there staring at me is scary enough._ Jaehyo shakes his nerves as he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and stares his target right in the face. He raises his bow, drawing the string back and shooting just like the others had before. It barely gets inside the bull’s eye. 

Jiho nods slightly at the shot his senior had made. The other two third years get it into the bull’s eye as well. They’re both holding one more arrow, so they make one more shot. Jaehyo can hear whispers off in the corner of the room from two girls and that only spikes his nerves up even more.

“That’s amazing. He doesn’t even show up for practice much.”

“He only needs to come once in a while and gets the feeling right away.” 

Jaehyo shifts his gaze over towards the speaker and his gaze is anything but calm and relaxed like he should be. 

“Quiet!” Jiho shouts at his seniors. Even though it’s considered rude to do so, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t like stupid things like that messing up other’s shots. And anyways, if he didn’t say something, most likely the supervisor wouldn’t. He’s too lenient on second year students like those girls. He shoots them a menacing glare and returns watching Jaehyo. The boy in his position sends Jiho a small smile as he averts his gaze back to the target and his ultimate goal. He shoots. He barely makes it again.

Nevertheless, all the members currently watching break out in applause again for the three students shooting after they finish. Jaehyo gets out of his standing position and goes to return his bow. _I always thought he looks the most beautiful when pulling the bow until today_ , Jiho thinks.

* * *

Ironically today, they’re walking home together. They’re walking side by side together silently until Jiho decides to speak up. “It’s really late, but, is your house this way?” 

“It’s not.”

Jiho seems kind of confused, because they’ve been walking the same way for the past couple minutes, and Jaehyo hasn’t once refused. He doesn’t like to leave questions unanswered, so he asks. “Then why?”

“I thought I’d come with you until we hit a certain place,” Jaehyo says matter-of-factly. However, Jiho is still confused. It doesn’t make any sense.

“What for?”

Jaehyo replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the entire world. “So I can stay with you longer.”

There’s a short pause as Jiho processes this, and he nods his head. They walk a little bit more in silence before Jiho strikes up the conversation again. Like before, he doesn’t like to leave questions unanswered, so he decides to ask something that’s been bothering him since yesterday. “You know….are we two…dating right now?” 

“That’s right,” Jaehyo says with his head held high. There’s a sloping road they’re going down, now, and it’s pretty awful. Jiho thinks he’s gonna get sea-sick.

“I see,” Jiho mumbles as he continues walking. However, Jaehyo stops. He readjusts the straps on his bag in confusion. _Huh? Could it be…this person…_ Jiho thinks a little bit more just as Jaehyo does, and finally comes with a conclusion. “Well, if it’s like that, then I’ll just go with it.” Jiho’s walked a considerable pace ahead and Jaehyo finally gets it through his head that he has to catch up with him. He catches Jiho’s arm and pulls him back a little bit.

“Um. Yesterday, was it–”

“Let’s go on a date, Jaehyo!” Jaehyo lets go of his grip on Jiho’s arm as the younger boy continues talking. “Well cause, it’s already Tuesday, isn’t it? One week will go by in a flash. We have to use time efficiently!” Jiho seems overly enthusiastic about it, but Jaehyo feels a bit uneasy. _As I thought, he’s decided it’s one week._ Jaehyo shifts around uncomfortably. 

“You see, Jiho, it’s not like that.”

Jiho seems considerably shocked for a moment there. It’s only because he’d misinterpreted Jaehyo’s statement. “Eh, no way? There’s decidedly no dates?”

“Decidedly?”

“The rules,” Jiho says bluntly. Jaehyo cannot even believe this kid thinks there are rules to this relationship. But of course, it would be easy to misunderstand. After all, many of the people he’s dated do think that sort of thing.

“There are no rules!” _Cause it’s not a game._ Jaehyo seems very troubled by this boy’s carefree nature, but it comes full circle when the boy outbursts in a very positive manner all of a sudden. 

“I’m glad! Then as I thought, first up is food. I’m hungry.” Jiho rubs his belly as he thinks about what to eat, but Jaehyo is still sort of taken aback by his behavior. Suddenly, Jiho walks away with his hand rubbing his belly. “Somehow I’m really craving for ramyeon right now.” Jaehyo catches up with his fleeting boyfriend somehow.

They’re walking in the train station when Jaehyo finally comes to a point where he absolutely has to tell Jiho. He stops in his tracks as Jiho unmistakeably stretches on, not noticing his partner has stopped walking. “Jiho…it was….a joke?” Jiho turns around at the sound of his name, gazing at the boy who finally put his head down in embarrassment of his question. _Even if I fall for this person, it won’t go as I want it to. I’ve got to tell him. That it’s not a game. I have to…break up with him here and now._

After a few moments of silence, Jiho had had enough. “What are you doing?” He strolls up to Jaehyo, grabbing his wrist and dragging him along delicately. Jiho is smiling all the while as he drags his troubled boyfriend behind him, and it’s all too much sometimes.

* * *

Jiho promptly breaks apart his wooden chopsticks and mixes the green onions and tender piece of sliced pork in so it is submerged in the broth. He says a thanks for the meal out loud and blows on some noodles for a moment before shoveling them into his mouth. Jaehyo is sitting beside him. His own ramen is sitting there steaming on its own. He seems uneasy there sitting in his seat. Jiho enjoys his ramen for a few moments before finally noticing Jaehyo’s demeanor and looking over at the stoic boy.

“You didn’t want ramyeon?” Jaehyo meets his eyes and obviously was not paying attention, because he asks the boy to repeat his statement. But he doesn’t. He just kind of points out the obvious. “You’ve been quiet all this time. I hate that kind of thing. When you don’t like something but just stay quiet and go along with me.” Jiho’s kind of pouting, and when Jaehyo hears the last sentence, he abruptly leans into Jiho and angrily returns.

“I had no such intentions!” 

“Then why are you silent?” 

Jaehyo knows he’s trapped now, and he can’t even lie to Jiho at this point. So he says what’s been bothering him for awhile. “That’s because I had something troubling me.” _Why can’t I be more determined about this?_

There’s an icy silence covering the room for a little bit before Jiho speaks again. “If you’re not up to it, then, let’s go home after finishing this?” Jaehyo looks incredulously at the boy next to him as he raises more noodles to his mouth.

“Don’t you dislike it when people just go along with you?” Jiho finishes chewing his noodles and slurps up some of the steaming broth before he actually talks again. 

“Yeah. I really hate it. But there’s no meaning if we’re both not enjoying ourselves. With things like this.” He looks over at Jaehyo as he says this, the tiniest of smiles hidden on his face. Jaehyo smiles a bit to himself, taking his bottom lip in between his teeth. He finally takes a sip of the broth from the ramyeon in an effort to enjoy himself. As he does so, he remembers something he needs to do.

“Shoes.” Jiho stops in his tracks as he lifts some noodles up, plonking his chopsticks back into the bowl. “I want to look for new ones,” Jaehyo mentions.

“Shoes?” Jiho asks for confirmation. He gets a nod in return. They both send each other melting smiles and Jiho nods. “I’m in.” However, though, before they leave, they finish their ramen.

* * *

They’re just browsing, after all, and both of them are examining pairs of shoes with alarming price tags on them. However, none of them mind. It’s comfortable silence for once since the ramyeon shop. They’re both taking display shoes off of the shelf to look inside and at the undersides. Jaehyo still isn’t content on a decision of what pair to get, so he keeps searching. Jiho is just doing it purely out of fun. That is, until, he sees a really cool pair of purple sneakers in the corner. “Wah! Jaehyo, look, look! Isn’t this great?”

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Jaehyo returns with a smile.

“Right? This color’s nice too,” Jiho says as he picks up the same model of shoe, but just in a cream complimented with red. Jiho tries them on, working out the parts that catch on his heel and breaking his foot into it. _I didn’t know._ “As I thought, it’s cool!” _Seeing him with the bow I wouldn’t have ever thought that he could be so interesting._ “Don’t you think so, Jaehyo? These are good, right?”

“They look good on you,” Jaehyo says, the biggest smile on his face. He’s holding a polka-dotted shoe, but he’s looking at Jiho with the most affectionate gaze on his face. _For some reason I can’t take my eyes off him._

They leave their bags on the floor as they’re at the movies. Jaehyo can’t even remember what movie they’re even seeing, because Jiho’s head has just dipped onto his shoulder. He’s asleep. Jaehyo moves a bit so he can grab Jiho’s dangling drink from his hands and place it in the cup holder. He doesn’t really want to get in trouble for spilling things. He also moves a bit so the boy sleeping is more comfortable on his shoulder. Well, as comfortable as you could get on a shoulder.

As he watches Jiho’s sleeping face for a bit, he feels an overwhelming surge of emotion in his heart as he tentatively lowers his head onto Jiho’s and closes his eyes. 


	3. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a break from writing the next chapter because I hadn’t been feeling up to it as of late. Hope you like this one! It took an awful long time! Also let’s imagine Jaehyo has a mole by his eye because if he didn’t the story wouldn’t progress lmao.

The day had been tranquil so far. The birds were chirping and flying lazily across the skyline, the morning sun infiltrating the heavy darkness of night. And unfortunately, it was another day to go to school, which meant another day for Jiho to ride on the train with several other students going the same route. Honestly, it was tiresome to walk by foot to the train station anyways. It wasn’t exactly the closest to his house. Still, he decided he would. He has no other means of transportation.

He starts his ascent up the flight of stairs, following the little blue and yellow arrows printed on the wall and on the ground, color coding which route should be followed. Bouts of other students in suits and skirts followed suit, so, Jiho wasn’t exactly alone. Jiho fixes his collar and drags his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and seeing if he had any messages. None. So he decides to call Jaehyo, knowing he’d be up and rather chipper at this time in the morning. He lazily drapes the phone over his ear and attempts to sound as tired as possible. “Good morning.”

“You sound as sleepy as ever,” the boy on the other line retorts, “where are you now? The station. Which exit are you taking?” Jiho seems dazed for a moment as he ponders this. It’s like he temporarily forgot which exit he uses.

“Exit?”

“The North or South exit.” Jiho pauses for a moment, finally finishing his trek up the stairs. He looks around at the various color coded signs, figuring out exactly which one he uses. Most of the time, he doesn’t even really pay attention. He’s gone this way the whole time he’s been to high school, so, he doesn’t exactly memorize where he’s going anyways.

He comes to a conclusion. “Ah, the South, and I’m taking a shortcut now.”

“Ah, I thought so. I’m by the store. See you in a bit.” Jiho’s confused, but he gets no answer to his confusion as he swipes his card across the barrier for him to get in. He looks at his phone and it appears Jaehyo has hung up. Great. He just dims the screen and gazes around for a bit. _He’s here…?_ As if the universe wanted his suspicions to be confirmed, as he looked to the left, there Jaehyo was, standing against a very cylindrical pillar near the store. There were girls gathered around him, and they seemed to be carrying on a conversation before Jaehyo had waved to his significant other.

 _He’s here. And some other people too._ The girls were mumbling about who Jaehyo was waiting for, kind of in disbelief. Jiho says a warm greeting to the girls, and they bow their heads and return it warmly. It’s as if the girls are still experiencing surprise as they keep talking.

“How unexpected, even though Jaehyo doesn’t appear in club much. Do you get along well?” one of the girls asks. But Jiho doesn’t even address the question. He just dodges it in order to chide Jaehyo.

“I know right!? He never shows up.” The girls nod in agreement and all Jaehyo can do is uncomfortably shift up against the pillar.

One of the girls definitely remembers why she’d confronted Jaehyo in the first place, because she asks a question every girl does at the beginning of the week. “Ah, that’s right! Jaehyo, who are you going out with this week?” Her friend joins in and curiously leans in towards Jaehyo as well, expecting his answer. However, Jaehyo falters. Thank goodness, though, because Jiho comes and saves the day.

“Me,” he says bluntly, accompanied with a matter-of-fact smile. The girls break out in crippling laughter. They deny it, saying ‘no’ over and over again and seeming to find the situation more funny than it actually was.

“But, you do look good together,” she says. Jiho smiles warmly.

“Thanks.”

The girls don’t seem to want to stray away from the topic, though, so they press on. “But, Jaehyo, you don’t really say who you’re going out with, huh?” They keep pressing onto the boy, asking him who it is and begging him to tell them. However, Jiho holds his ground and tries to convince the girls he really isn’t joking.

“Like I said, it’s me.”

“Stop that! Putting that aside, who is it really? Tell us~ It’s an order!” They both stand in silence as the girls keep pushing Jaehyo. The awkwardness doesn’t even really go away then.

* * *

Jiho is sitting in class now, having his hand spread wide open. He’s ticking off fingers as he lists the things he and Jaehyo do. _A good morning text, a good night text, eating together, shopping together, watching a movie…walking together to school?_ He notices he’s deep in thought, so he retreats, leaning back in his chair and stuffing his ticked hand into his pockets. He stares out the window, admiring the nature outside. 

 _What exactly was “going out”? Normally going out….holding hands…I don’t get it. How far do Jaehyo’s standards go?_ Jiho leans back in his chair as he ponders this, eventually getting fed up with the idea and scratching his head in annoyance. He stares off into space for awhile, then lays his eyes on Kyung, who is looking at the board and finally paying attention for once. The metaphorical lightbulb dings in Jiho’s head. 

_Found it. A sample._

* * *

During break-time, Jiho slams his hands against Kyung’s desk, alarming him from the relaxed position he was in earlier. “Hey, did you do it? Did you do it?” Kyung looks at him with an incredulous look. 

“Huh, do what?”

“I’m asking whether or not you did it.”

“Did what?”

Jihoon, who is sitting behind Kyung currently, is paying attention. He’s honestly just as confused as Kyung is. 

“Like I said, Kyung, did you do it with Jaehyo?” Kyung narrows his eyes, and delivers a slap across Jiho’s face. Jiho yells out in alarm, clutching his reddening cheek as if it had been stabbed directly. The whole class stops in their tracks to look onwards at what’s happening.

“This is why girls always feel let down by you!” Meanwhile, Jiho is still clutching his cheek like his life had been changed forever by that slap, uttering ‘ow’s here and there whenever there was a pause in Kyung speaking. “Apologize to your parents who blessed you with that face.” Jiho doesn’t seem to get it, though, so he presses onwards.

“Then? How was it? Did you do it?”

Kyung furrows his brows, looking down and playing with the loosened button at the end of his blazer. “Why are you asking things like that…” He trails off his sentence and fixes the button, snapping it back into place. 

Jiho finally moves his hand off of his cheek and kneels down, resting his crossed arms on the ends of Kyung’s desk. “Lately, I’ve been getting along with him, so it piqued my interest,” Jiho says with an earnest smile. Kyung still looks at him with a half confused and half stank face. Jiho looks as though he’s eager to learn more, putting his full attention on Kyung and resting his chin on his right fist.

Kyung crosses his arms, pondering in thought as he studies the ceiling. “Whether it’s the shoulders or hands, it felt like he won’t touch you unless it’s absolutely necessary. Though I’ve heard of girls forcing themselves on him to make it a reality. But he’s known for it…for never doing anything to the girls.” In the mean time, said guy is meandering through the halls, eventually waiting near the door, as he always has for three days straight.

“What a pity,” Jiho complains. He hears screams outside the doors from fangirling, and averts his eyes to the door. He sees Jaehyo there, as always. Kyung notices too.

“Speak of the devil. What? Are you really getting along well? He comes everyday, you know?” Kyung looks on for an answer, but Jiho doesn’t exactly give him a straight one.

“Well, I don’t know if he’s chasing skirts or what. Weird dude,” Jiho says with a weird laugh, standing up from his kneeling position. He flashes Kyung a smile before he moves over to the door, following Jaehyo out. 

* * *

They both grab a strawberry milk and meet each other out on the balcony. It’s supposed to be a place where teachers frequently hang out, but students come there too. Jaehyo is leaning against the rails with his back turned, whilst Jiho is in the opposite position. “Seriously? You wasted no time coming, this break-time,” Jiho says, examining the label on the milk and the crazy cartoon character on the front. He averts his gaze over towards Jaehyo, locking eyes and making conversation a little less easy.

“Did it bother you?” Jaehyo returns, shifting his position a little.

Jiho returns to looking at his milk for a second and then back at Jaehyo. “Didn’t I say I hate just going along with people? If I didn’t like it, I’d say so.”

“That’s true.”

“I think you’re much more clever than you look.” A pause. Not uncomfortable, but weird enough between a conversation. It’s almost as if Jaehyo forgot who Jiho was talking to.

“Me?’

“Yeah, you,” Jiho returns, “You’ve been paying for me all of yesterday and today. This, too.” Jiho references to the pink container in his hands, almost emptied. 

“Isn’t that normal? Since we’re going out.” Jiho reminisces about this morning, cracking a little smile and sipping a bit out of his drink.

“It’s not like anyone believes it, though.” A pause for Jiho to sip his drink. He hears the deathly suck of air and knows his strawberry milk is as good as gone. “Moreover, maybe it’s because I’m hanging with you today….it feels like there are more girls screaming than usual.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like them.” Jiho shifts his position so he’s leaning a little less, looking out into the skyline to admire the buildings near the school. “If there were just a person who loves everything that I am, that’s enough, I guess.” 

For the first time in a few minutes, Jaehyo looks away, staring at the ground. “Is that so. I think there are lots, though.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Hey, Jiho, today, after school–”

“Go to club practice.”

Jaehyo nods, as if he was expecting that kind of response. 

“I’ll wait for you. Call me when you’re done,” Jiho kindly offers. Jaehyo’s face breaks out into a huge smile. “Well, if it gets boring I’ll go home, though.” Jaehyo shifts in alarm, complaining to the boy next to him.

“Wait for me~!” He leans over the railing with his chest leaning on it now, looking out at the buildings just as Jiho had been for a few minutes. “Then maybe I’ll do my best,” Jaehyo teases, leaning into Jiho jokingly. After he says that, he gives the boy space, putting a few inches between them. A comfortable blanket of silence then washes over them, and Jiho finishes the last drop of strawberry milk inside the pathetic little container.

Eventually though, his eyes avert over towards the boy who’s serenely looking into the horizon. He notices something on the boy he hadn’t before. _He has a mole in a strange place._ Right under his bushy eyebrow and almost by the crease of his eye is a small one, lingering there. Jiho thinks for a little bit more, and tilts his head. _It isn’t dirt….right?_ He definitely knows this is a bold move, but he slides his hand against the other’s cheek, rubbing his thumb against the blemish. It doesn’t move. 

Jaehyo seems alarmed by this movement and he’s questioning why the boy is doing this. However, they’ve been staring at each other and leaning millimeters closer for a few minutes, Jiho’s hand not moving. They both kind of wonder what would have happened if the bell did not chime signaling them back to class. It knocked them out of the dreamlike state, and Jiho moves his hand away carefully. They break eye contact and it’s awkward for a few seconds before Jiho remembers something awful.

“This is bad! I have to change classrooms for sixth period!” He hastily runs off, leaving Jaehyo confused out by the balcony. He attempts to move to grab him, but then he thinks better of it. After all, they both had to get back to class. 

“I’m sorry,” Jaehyo suddenly says, and it throws Jiho for a loop. He turns around as he walks backwards. He’s confused.

“Why are you apologizing, that doesn’t make sense! I’m going!” However, Jiho is stopped by yet another interruption as he meets Jihoon in the hallway. “Jihoon!”

“You idiot,” he says to Jiho, as he hands out a book. 

“Could that be…my textbook? Jihoon, I love you!” He engulfs the boy into a hug, catching him off guard. He mumbles a ‘yeah,yeah’ as the boy hugs him, obviously annoyed by the sudden public display of affection. 

Jaehyo seems caught off guard too, because he doesn’t exactly stop what he says. “Jiho, that’s cheating.”

Jiho pulls off of his friend, them both looking at Jaehyo with a strange look. However, Jihoon seems to be the only one who’s seriously confused.

“What is cheating?”

“You’re right, cheating’s not good,” Jiho says, holding Jihoon’s shoulders as he pulls away from the embrace. 

“You don’t sound sincere,” Jihoon snaps. 

“I was.”

“Was not. Rather than that, what do you mean cheating?”

“Cheating is cheating,” Jiho says with a nod as he walks away. However, Jihoon is still confused and he wants answers, so he follows Jiho, shouting things to gain his attention. 

Jaehyo is left there with an empty carton that once housed strawberry milk, and a tingling sensation on his cheek as he touches the same spot Jiho’s hand once was. 

* * *

Jiho doesn’t seem to be as affected as Jaehyo was by the situation, which is why he’s sitting on the white bench outside. He’s waiting for Jaehyo to come home from practice, as promised. He looks out towards the water until he hears footsteps nearing. He sees Jaehyo standing there, giving him a wide smile and tossing him a drink. “Good work. It’s still barely warm.”

Jaehyo thanks him, taking the drink and pressing both his palms against it to test the temperature. “You’re right, it’s warm,” Jaehyo says with an equally widening smile. Jiho returns it and then looks out towards the sky. 

“Did you get any praise?”

Jaehyo rubs the drink against his palms as he thinks about it. “It felt like they were vaguely picking on me.”

“It’s because you don’t show up for practice,” Jiho chides. Jaehyo smiles. He could probably get used to the complaints about his attendance from Jiho. Jiho gets up from his seat, getting as close to the railing as possible without falling over into a pile of bushes.

“I haven’t come here in awhile.” Here, being the nice spot right by the water a little ways from the train station. It had a beautiful outlook over the city skyline and the bridge connecting such parts. Jaehyo follows him to the railing, watching along with Jiho. Couples are walking by as they watch, a nice few inches separating them. “It’s full of stupid couples, as usual.” Before Jiho realizes it, he thinks about their situation for a minute. “Ah, we’re one too, huh?”

“Yes we are.” They both exchange laughter until a silence falls over them again.

“As expected, do you come here every week?” 

“Some do people like this place…but there are also those who don’t.” Jiho nods. That makes perfect sense to him. Jiho looks as though he wants to say anything, but he doesn’t. They sit in comfortable silence, only the occasional movement for Jaehyo to fix his fringe or for Jiho to shift his postition. Eventually, though, his eyes find themselves upon Jaehyo again, and he can’t help but let his thoughts take over his mind once again.

 _In this atmosphere, you’d normally kiss, right? I wanna do it too._ Unfortunately, his hopes are shattered once Kyung’s earlier words pop into his head.

_Whether it’s the shoulders or hands…it felt like he won’t touch you unless absolutely necessary. Though I’ve heard of girls forcing themselves on him to make it a reality. But he’s known for it,  for never doing anything to the girls._

Even so, Jiho’s mind still rattles off on what it was preoccupied doing a few hours prior. _I knew it….It was a mole…right?_ He stares at the mark underneath the boy’s eyebrow again. _In a place like this, your partner surely feels that way too, right? Surely._

Jaehyo finally notices there’s a pair of eyes staring at him again, so he makes eye contact with Jiho, his puzzled face very evident on his expression. _How many girls, have tried doing this, I wonder?_ Jiho thinks, shutting his eyes for a bit and considering it. _And, what would Jaehyo do?_ Jaehyo takes advantage of the situation and lingers closer, draping his hand against the railing to brace himself as he leans in. 

Jiho doesn’t find out what Jaehyo does until he feels a soft pair of lips press onto his own. It’s a soft peck, but it doesn’t hesitate to open Jiho’s eyes in alarm as Jaehyo pulls back. He’s confused as he brings his hand up to his lips, touching it. “Huh?” Jaehyo doesn’t answer that perplexed noise, because he’s bringing his hand up to caress Jiho’s cheek the same way the boy did earlier, and bringing his lips back in towards Jiho’s, touching them together again.

Jiho’s eyes flutter to a close this time, relaxing into it for a few seconds. Jaehyo pulls away again, retracting his hand. Jiho averts his gaze to the water again, seeming to nod in understanding. _Kyung….is full of lies._ He shifts his position, bracing his back against the railing. “I fell for it,” Jiho says.

“Eh? What?” Jaehyo seems genuinely confused as he studies the face of the boy in front of him.

“Nevermind.” 

Jaehyo feels as though he’s done something wrong as the silence overtakes them again, this time, much heavier.

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be 7 chapters! Woo hoo! Also, this is based on a manga/movie of the same name, so don't go saying I copied it because I'm giving credit oops.


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